Having cleared her male servant of suspicion, Elisa turned her thoughts to another matter.
[Spirit Vision] was an application of spirituality and one of the fundamental techniques of [Mysticism].
[Spirit Vision] allowed one to see things invisible to the naked eye. It could provide a rough glimpse of the condition of a person’s various organs, as well as reveal evil spirits and traces of the transcendent.
The problem was that activating and maintaining [Spirit Vision] consumed a considerable amount of spirituality. For low-ranking transcendents, using it also caused severe dizziness and blurred vision. Not to mention, [Spirit Vision] could attract the attention of evil spirits. Hehe, when you could see them, they could see you too.
Generally speaking, [Spirit Vision] would only be activated when there was a clear need for it.
How did the male servant think to use [Spirit Vision] on that young lady?
Elisa flipped through [Simon’s Log]. The reason was right there in the previous line: the young lady was sitting alone on a bench in the garden.
Although this was merely a picnic as far as Mabel and Eleanor were concerned, for the young ladies attending, it was a social occasion that had to be approached with care. The same went for me. I even went through some last-minute training specifically for it.
For a young lady to disregard etiquette, distance herself from the crowd, and sit alone would hurt her standing within their social circle. She might even offend the hosts if they happened to be petty.
Mabel and Eleanor weren’t petty people, but they didn’t handle such matters themselves. The head maid overseeing the event certainly wouldn’t invite this unsociable young lady again.
Despite such serious consequences, the young lady still chose to do this. She must have had a compelling reason.
The most likely possibility was that she was feeling unwell. A far less likely possibility was that she had become afflicted by an evil spirit or a curse.
As it happened, both possibilities could be investigated with [Spirit Vision], which was why the male servant had used it.
As expected of me. Flawless deduction!
Elisa felt that ever since she got [Simon’s Log], her intelligence had been soaring by leaps and bounds.
Now that it had been confirmed to be an evil spirit, the next step was to exorcise it.
[The young lady sitting on the bench accepts the tea from Simon and thanks him, saying that she hasn’t been sleeping well lately and has been feeling somewhat dazed]
[Simon knows that the reason the young lady hasn’t been sleeping well is the hazy evil spirit clinging to her, its facial features and limbs impossible to make out]
[The Scarab Badge his teacher gave him can exorcise evil spirits, but he has no way to conceal the light the emblem gives off when he uses Purification]
Elisa nodded to herself. That was the most troublesome thing about the [Scarab Badge]. Using it was far too conspicuous!
[Simon considers luring the young lady into a room and waiting for her to fall asleep before purifying the evil spirit. That way, she wouldn’t notice anything]
[As for how to get the young lady to sleep, perhaps he could pray to his teacher and ask for a Sleep Talisman]
That plan sounds pretty good, but there’s no way I’m agreeing to it!
Who knows whether you’d do something else after using the [Sleep] Talisman and purifying the evil spirit!
You were staring at that young lady’s chest the moment you walked up to her!
[The whole process is too troublesome, and a Sleep Talisman isn’t cheap. Simon reluctantly gives up on the idea and starts thinking of another way]
What other way could there possibly be? Elisa picked up an ice cream and continued reading as she ate.
For her, this was simple. All she had to do was go out at night, sneak into the young lady’s bedroom, and exorcise the evil spirit.
But for the male servant, who had only just become a transcendent, sneaking in at night was out of the question.
Come to think of it, was this male servant always this kindhearted? He’d only just met this young lady, yet he was going to so much trouble for her?
Thinking about it carefully, back in the East District, he had also helped a little girl and given her money, even though he reported twice the actual amount to me.
Could it be that I’ve always been biased against my male servant? Sure, he slacks off, embezzles money, and flirts with the maids, but maybe he’s actually a good male servant?
Elisa’s resolve began to waver as she wondered whether she should use the [Mirror of Mist] to intervene and give her male servant a hand.
At the same time, new words appeared on the screen of light.
[Simon can’t bear to see misfortune befall those magnificent twin peaks. Protecting beautiful things is a gentleman’s greatest virtue]
Virtue, my ass! You certainly weren’t like this with that flat-chested maid just now!
Elisa immediately abandoned any thought of intervening. She even began to find the poor young lady a little detestable, a hint of class resentment creeping into her heart. This was the hatred between nobles who occupied fertile lands and commoners who had only barren soil!
I’d like to see how you plan to exorcise that spirit without my help!
[Simon decides to lure someone else into helping the young lady]
Lure someone else?
[While talking with the young lady, he keeps track of Eleanor’s whereabouts]
***
Eleanor had been keeping an eye on that male servant from Elisa’s household, all for the sake of her most precious pet, Mabel.
Mabel, who had never been close to men, had spent the past month constantly talking about that male servant. Alarm bells rang in Eleanor’s mind, and scenes straight out of third-rate novels where a male servant eloped with his young mistress kept flashing through her head.
She had assumed Simon was the scheming sort of male servant who deceived innocent young ladies.
But after observing him for a while, the male servant seemed to know his boundaries. When he spoke with Mabel, his eyes never once wandered toward her chest, bottom, or thighs.
Even when speaking with Eleanor herself, the male servant had kept his gaze elsewhere.
However, this only proved that the male servant had no ulterior intentions. It didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.
Eleanor had planted informants among the servants, and one of them told her that in just two short hours, the male servant had already struck up lively conversations with six or seven maids, charming them until they lowered their heads bashfully.
Without a doubt, he was a shameless flirt.
Moreover, the male servant understood women well. With the unsophisticated maids, he complimented their hairstyles, clothes, and skills. With the mischievous Mabel, he used novel magic tricks. And with the serious Julia, he offered emotional counseling.
Hehe, these ignorant women had all fallen into the male servant’s trap! They had become lambs waiting to be slaughtered!
Only I, the great transcendent Lady Eleanor, have seen through the male servant and figured everything out without being seduced by him!
Hmph, he’s nothing but a male curly-haired baboon. How could I possibly let him wrap me around his finger!
Come to think of it, though, those legends the male servant told earlier were quite interesting. They were filled with mysterious and philosophical elements, and after listening to them, I felt like I’d learned quite a lot.
If it weren’t improper for a young lady to spend too long chatting with a male servant, I’d really like to have him tell me stories all night long.
Haah, compared to these flattering young ladies and this boring picnic, that male servant is much more interesting.
Eleanor sighed regretfully.
After dealing with two more foolish young ladies and finishing her current conversation, Eleanor picked up a macaron and took small bites from it. Her informant came over from the manor to give her the latest news.
That male servant was talking with Miss Susanna in the garden.
Eleanor thought carefully for a moment and dug up what she remembered about Susanna.
Susanna was a student at the Department of Steam and Gears at the Kingdom Public University. She had excellent grades and was already working as a professor’s assistant. She was also kindhearted and cared deeply about the poor.
She came from an urban family and was a typical intellectual, so how had she ended up chatting with a male servant?
Eleanor was already feeling bored, so she used looking for Susanna as an excuse to head over.
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